Pages

Labels

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

What's on Netflix?: THE LAST FIVE YEARS

Welcome to another installment of WHAT'S ON NETFLIX?,
where we pick out a film or series currently playing on Netflix and review it
for the fans. This week's selection is the musical THE LAST FIVE YEARS!

I love musicals. The power showtunes have to create a fever
of emotion and energy within basic premises and stories always blows my mind. For
years, I put off watching The Last Five Years due to reviews that dubbed
it fairly forgettable. Recently, I sat down, at the recommendation of a friend,
and experienced this beautiful movie for the first time. I realize that I am in
the minority in my love for The Last Five Years, but I am happy to
recommend it as, in my opinion, one of the best, most criminally underrated
musicals of the 21st Century.

In The Last Five Years (hereinafter TLFY), the difficulties and hardships of
marriage are laid out for you onscreen. As I was watching TLFY, I was
reminded of critically-acclaimed bittersweet love stories from recent years
like (500) Days of Summer and last year’s La La Land. This
musical follows the love story of Cathy and Jamie, two artists who fall in
love, despite their differences in personality and dreams. The longer they are
together, the more their differences begin to drive them apart and the more
that their perfect love story becomes a disaster.

The primary strength of TLFY shines
through in Jason Robert Brown’s incredible musical ability. Brown, the musical
genius behind Broadway hits like Parade and The Bridges of Madison
County, has a perfect ear for incorporating songs within scenes in a
natural, believable fashion. Once the initial abrupt moment of suspension of
disbelief occurs as everyone begins to sing, everything flows so seamlessly and
beautifully that the normal disconnect that occurs while watching a musical
never really hits you. Instead, you enter into a world where emotions run so
hot and passions so intense that music is the only way to fully express how you
feel. Songs from TLFY are infectious, heart-wrenching, and
unforgettable.

Not only does TLFY succeed as a musical, it is also an
excellently-crafted film. The cinematography in this short movie is genuinely
inspired. The storytelling in TLFY is unconventional, involving a series
of dramatic jumps from year to year that is accentuated by tonal shifts and
stylistic differences that pull the viewer in without overtly stating too much.
Furthermore, the chemistry between Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan succeeds on
so many important levels. Jordan plays a deeply-sympathetic romantic lead,
despite being a deeply-problematic person. Kendrick portrays heartbreak and
passionate love in such a believable, compelling way, driven forward even more
intensely by her vocal talent, reminding audiences again and again that she is
just as at home on the silver screen as she is in a Broadway performance.

Weaknesses are truly difficult to pin down in
this movie. In reading other reviews and critical responses to TLFY, I
have found that most people take issue with Jeremy Jordan’s character of Jamie
not finding him a supportable lead. I, personally, had no issue following
Jamie’s rise and fall. Despite always feeling for Cathy’s character and hating
the ways in which their deteriorating relationship hurt her, Jamie’s weaknesses
are so human in nature that I could never truly hate him. Personally, the only
weakness I found in TLFY fell upon its rushed style. As a ninety-minute
movie, there was plenty of room for expansion and slower pacing, but instead,
the plot of this film plays out a bit too quickly at times. In the end, if you
can immerse yourself into the characters onscreen in this 2014 musical, then
this movie could very well become one of your favorites within the genre.

Love stories are easily cliché. Bittersweet love stories
have been done so many times in so many different ways that it is always a
rewarding experience to find a new take on tried and true techniques. The
Last Five Years is a story we all know: Boy meets girl; Boy and girl fall
in love; Boy and girl fall out of love. However, the musical genius and the
cinematic creativity that flow through its runtime take a simple story and
elevate to greatness.

Jonathan’s Score: 9/10

Make sure to check us out and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all of our reviews, news, trailers, and much, much more!!!